101 Uses For is popular and let's hope it stays that way. Our second book is presently called 101 tips for self sufficiency; we will certainly dip into this section for ideas. So post away and let's try and get at least one thread up to 101.

where i used to live there was a fantastic grocery shop i used to shop at but sadly there isnt one near enough where i live now. my last post was the first time i admitted to being a shopaholic, and not in a ditzy glam filmstar way, in a literally 'i cant stop this' kind of way so i really do appreciate your sentiment!!since admitting it to the hubby for the first time today he was a lot more sympathetic than i thought he'd be and has said he'll take over the food shop duties.pre-baby, i was super organised, drawing up a weeks menu and buying only exactly what i needed from a list. my brain has since gone a bit mushy and whilst i try to be as ish as i can in many ways (and i think im doing alright, for my part), i have been suckered in! thats what i meant by saying supermarkets (and department stores, actually) suck my soul! i guess the one good thing is that i am at least aware of how the system is working me, most people are happy consumers! these supermarkets spend a hella lot of money on the marketing of selling. they target tired housewives like myself. and the sick thing is... it works.

from now on i am just going to stay away from the shops.

sorry for pouring out my heart there!!

Rosendula wrote:

Urban Ayisha wrote:65. they spread 'essentials' like milk and bread to opposite ends of the shop so you have to trawl through everything (and end up buying) just to get a couple of things. even knowing this, i am still sucked in by it every time. its depressing and something about myself i really hate. i cant stop spending money we dont have, i dont know how to stop it. the only time i definitely dont spend money is when im at the allotment but having a young baby i cant get down there that easily. anyone else feel like me?

Yes, I used to be like that but I have managed to overcome it. Is there a small shop within walking distance that you can use? Even though the prices may be higher, if you go in completely focussed on what you want and don't browse (act like you are wearing blinkers), you will spend less than if you drive (?) to the supermarket and buy something from every aisle between the milk and the bread.

Another tactic; if you must use the supermarket, can you manage to pay cash? If so, by learning the prices of the items you need, you can take with you only as much money as is necessary to pay for those items. You won't put anything else in your basket because you know that you can't pay for them.

Have you tried making your own bread? It works out so much cheaper than buying, takes very little of your time (most of the time it takes to make, it is doing the work itself), the time it does take you to make it is saved by not going to the shops, and it's more filling so you don't need as much. As for the milk - buy a cow! Oh, well we can all dream can't we? If you're not going to shops as often, you might need to buy bigger or more bottles, or perhaps have the milk delivered. I noticed one brand in A$da that has a much longer shelf-life than the most popular brands in the supermarket, so it might be worth spending an extra 5p or so to cut down on visits.

Rosendula's tactics sound good. I live 2 miles from the nearest shops, 3 miles from the nearest co-op and 7 miles from anything I might actually want to buy... and with no public transport and no car... so that is a pretty good dis-incentive to shop.

Sorry Urban Ayisha, my earlier reply was a bit abrupt and I didn't realise you had a problem. If it's any consolation the one time I do get suckered in is at the hairdressers. I'm forever buying their ruddy 'professional' products at ridiculous prices only to find they are a load of cr@p. I came away with hair mousse that cost me €11 the other day (normally about €5-6 in the supermarket) and it's no better than anything else.

I've even bought 'your horoscope sign' eau de parfum and got home and it was vile! Probably cos hairdressers are so highly perfumed smelly places you lose your sense of smell.

70. they encourage bad eating by offer bye one get one free on cake crisps and biscult ect anything thats bad for you 71. staff knowlege is pretty poor most of the time ( don't know what ginger is or even runner beans )72. staff on till more intreasting in talking to each other than getting on and serving you (there are some that are very good but not in my local )

"Motorcycle parking" after 20 years of complaining my local T***o now have a motorbike bay but morrison put there so far from trolly park you have to carry heavy loads to bike bay

Local Testicles doesn't seem to understand the concept of having enough checkout staff to cover the volume of people coming through. I usually find myself having to make a visit around 5pm on Saturdays, all the checkouts are queued back into the aisles and there are up to 10 checkouts not being used. This happens all the time. Makes my blood boil.

73 or is it 74? Advertising.It bugs me the way some supermarkets advertise. For example Asda are currently running an ad on the radio which says that they are "saving you money everyday" . In my eyes they aren't actually saving you money , they may be at a pinch be costing you slightly less money compared to other supermarkets but you are still ending up spending money which surely is the complete opposite to saving.

75-202,It's ASDA's advertising again.If you're out of the UK it's really worth checking out their Christmas ad online.It suggests it's customers exhibit sexism of medieval proportions.As a bloke,if I went anywhere near the place following that advert,I'd section myself, so God knows what women think of it. Do they honestly think it's going to encourage people to buy their tat??.....Hilarious!!

oldjerry wrote:75-202,It's ASDA's advertising again.If you're out of the UK it's really worth checking out their Christmas ad online.It suggests it's customers exhibit sexism of medieval proportions.As a bloke,if I went anywhere near the place following that advert,I'd section myself, so God knows what women think of it. Do they honestly think it's going to encourage people to buy their tat??.....Hilarious!!

horse meat its done my local butches the world of good his buisness has gone up 200% in the last to weeks he is loving it may be the horse meat is a good thing and will keep people out of the super markets for there meat but i am pretty sure when it all dieds down the poor butcher will suffer again

Now then... I agree wholeheartedly with almost all of the points and comments above, but would like to throw some first hand experiences into the mix.

Four years ago, when my life went to hell in a handcart and I had no other option to close down the market garden business and look, very quickly, for a surveying job, I was offered a position with a commercial developer who at the time was concentrating on supermarket development. I had little option at the time but to take it. It had the prospect of big financial bonuses which, I thought at the time, might allow me to do it for a short time and pay off my mortgage, then quit, and go back to my ish lifestyle. I reconciled this in the knowledge that if I did not take the job, someone else would.

I successfully gained planning consent for a handful of supermarkets and was rewarded by being made redundant last year. Despite disagreeing with supermarkets and agreeing with a large number of the points above, I firmly believe that in two developments I did on my own, that they were a significant benefit to the local area.

In the first, the town had scant little food offer but a particularly large catchment area. I did a lot of public research, including holding open days, meeting community councils and other groups and it was clear that the locals drove a 60 mile round trip to do their 'main' food shop, most doing this every week. Employment, particularly for younger folk was scant, and what jobs there were, were seasonal. Young folk either moved away in search of permanent employment (increasing the average age of the town significantly) or worked during the tourist season and signed on for the winter. There was unanimous public support for the development, it would create 120 new jobs and we calculated from our shopping habits survey that it had the potential to significantly reduce the 13 million km that people within the town catchment drove annually to buy their food.

In the second development there was opposition from 6 or so local traders who stated that they were finding it really difficult to trade profitably and a supermarket would, in their opinion, close them down. In a series of public debates, it became very clear why people were not shopping with them. These ranged from high prices, limited choice and opening hours not being in sync with what the locals required. Folk in the town were travelling in some cases 60 miles each way to shop for food and not spending any money in their own town. Outlying villages within the catchment never went into the town preferring to shop in larger towns out with the catchment resulting in these folk never, or seldom, even coming into the town. The proposed supermarket, in the locals opinion would allow them to stay local, reduce the cost of travelling and on the whole, increase footfall on the main street.

Although I avoid supermarkets personally when I can, I had first hand evidence that they do have their place. Shopping habits on the whole have changed significantly in the last couple of decades and no mater what we ishers think, the majority of the public choose to use supermarkets. A few in this thread have said that they don't have much option but to use them, but on the whole, supermarkets dont force people through their doors. People make a choice, and the majority choose to use them.

As regards supermarkets 'land banking' to thwart competitors opening near their stores, in Scotland at least, this is largely a myth. In the four years I did that job, I drove every street of almost all major settlements (3,000 population and above) and only on two occasions did I find a potential development site already owned by a supermarket. I did a lot of work in Northumberland and it was also the case there. It might be different elsewhere though although I doubt it - supermarket operators won't on the whole tie cash up in land that is not in their development pipeline.

Can I say again I don't personally choose to use them and am now dole scum.....

I'm sure that must be the situation in some areas.I can relate also a tale of the more traditional 'ish' view from this town,but I think were probably a bit fed up of continually going over the same ground.Something you said though gets me thinking:

'the majority of the public choose to use supermarkets'..Of course they do USE them,but where does the choice thing kick in.? Aren't all of us continually cajoled,bribed,lambasted etc by massive ad campaigns costing zillions? is this a free choice?..after all we buy tons of stuff we throw away,..

Is the average shopper a couple of coupons short of a school computer?....I dunno...